"the inside of an anthill"
Rilke, Gass, Herbert, Bourgeois, Mead, Koch
Rainer Maria Rilke:
William H. Gass:
Writing is a way of making the writer acceptable to the world—every cheap, dumb, nasty thought, every despicable desire, every noble sentiment, every expensive taste. There isn’t very much satisfaction in getting the world to accept and praise you for things that the world is prepared to praise. The world is prepared to praise only shit. One wants to make sure that the complete self, with all its qualities, is not just accepted but approved . . . not just approved—whoopeed.
Zbigniew Herbert (trans. John and Bogdana Carpenter):
Louise Bourgeois:
Jane Mead:
Kenneth Koch:
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Calls for Poems and Essays
92Y Unterberg Poetry Center Discovery Contest, Four prizes of $500 each and publication in the Paris Review Daily are given annually for a group of poems.
Colorado Prize for Poetry, A prize of $2,000 and publication by the Center for Literary Publishing is given annually for a poetry collection.
Levis Reading Prize, A prize of $3,000 to $5,000 and an all-expenses paid trip to give a reading at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond is given annually for a first or second book of poetry published during the previous year
Roxane Gay Nonfiction Project, $2,000 for nonfiction essays
Sustainable Arts Foundation, Up to twenty awards of $5,000 each are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers with children.
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